Wednesday, June 30, 2010

A Rugged Scotsman

Late June 2010

Time to carve: 6.5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

Aye, I been looking forward to carving this one. Carved from maple it is a mix of a chip and finished carving. Though roughed out on the band saw, there was quite a bit of carving involved with this slide. (Lots of sharping too.) I finished this up with craft paints and a couple of coats of poly. When it was done, I almost felt like I should have been carving this under moonlight - the "Lantern". Loch Sloidh

Flashlight

Late June 2010

Time to carve: 0 hours
Leather work: 1 hour
Finishing: .5 hour

I have had this slide in the back of my mind for a while now but couldn't seem
to find the right flashlight. Then when helping my daughter clean her room, I came upon a little flashlight that would be just right. My daughter didn't want it anymore (because it didn't work) so I set forth fixing it. A bunch of hearing aid batteries and some fine sand paper latter I had a working flashlight.
Next came the the leather part of the slide and I began by laying it out on paper first. Once I had worked out, I cut it out,punched out holes for the flashlight and around the outside edge for lacing. Somehow plastic lacing, or gimp, just didn't look right so I decided to use a natural string instead.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Paul Bunyan's Hollow Tooth

Late June 2010

Time to carve: 3.5 hours
Finishing: 1 hour

OK, I got tp to admit this one is a bit weird. I mean the thought of wearing a tooth around one's neck. Made from Maple, roughed it out on the band saw and began the process of shaping the tooth. Lots of carving, lots of sharping the knife as sat and chipped away. Man... maple is hard! The odd part, when I started sanding, was I was having a hard time deciding what to sand smooth and what to leave a little rough. In the end I smoothed the part above the gum and left the roots somewhat rough (like a real tooth). Two coats of white craft paints and waited for it to completely dry before giving the roots a dark brown wash. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Peyote Beading

Late June 2010

Time to carve: 0 hours
Beading: 4 hours
Finishing: 0 hour







 
Looking ahead to the next few patterns, I saw the Peyote Beading slide and wonderedwhat design to make. Also on my mind was the Wood Badge class I will be taking in the fall. Hmmm...just maybe I could combine the two....
I set out with graph paper and colored pencils in had to sketch out the MacLaren Tartan. After a couple of tries I had the pattern and when out to get some beads. The colors turned out to be a bit tricky since I was really limited to the beads on hand at the store. As a result I have two different dark green beads that are close enough to work. Next I built a beading loom and, while it is not what was called for in the original article, it is the method I know. Moving forward I found my eyes are not what they use to be and I had to break out my "cheaters" while stringing the beads. I completed the base of the work in one evening (see second pic)and sewed the ends together the next morning forming the slide. I really like this one and who knows maybe I make some "unofficial" shoulder loops using the same pattern.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

OUCH!

Mid June 2010

Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

A funny cartoon kind of slide that was easy to make. Carved from maple, there is really nothing really hard about this slide. The arrow is a bamboo food skewer that is passed through a hole drilled in the head and glued in place. The feathers are made from some plastic from a gift card. The original slide pattern called for skunk hair to be glued to the head. Hmmmm...fresh out of skunk hair around here (and no real ambition to get some). Off to the craft store to find some fake fur and it seems the smallest amount you can buy is 1/8 of a yard of the material. I only needed 2 inch strip 1/4 inch wide to be glued to the head for some pretty good looking hair. (I have enough left over to make 200 or more of these slides.)

GOB

Mid June 2010

Time to carve: 5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

GOB? What's a GOB? As it turns out, according to an online dictionary, it is slang for a sailor. (go figure) Another sailor pattern from Whittlin Jim and I set off on this slide with a big piece of maple. What struck me about this one was the size of the nose. Now I not very good with faces as a rule because the nose never looks right to me. This one was no exception I guess because it seems out of proportion to the rest of the face but that is what the pattern called for.

Gooney Bird

Early June 2010


Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: 2 hour

...and now for something completely different. An easy project with feathers. Yeah, I got to admit I had my doubts on this one but I kind of like how it turned out. Getting a wooden ball from a local craft store, I cut in in half and then cut a small angle in the top ball for the feathers. The head was carved from some scrap maple and the hardest part was fitting it to the body. Now I guess I could have flattened the body where the head would go but I decided to hollow out the head to match the curvature of the body. Whittlin Jim called for some split pea eyes but I opted for some made from a small dowel and glued to the head. I had some feathers around from a different project, when I was a WEBELO's leader, which I cut to size and super glued to the body. Painted with some craft paints and finished with a couple of coats of poly

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Easter Island Stone Face

Early June 2010

Time to carve: 6.5 hours
Finishing: 1 hour

Whittlin Jim wrote how he had read "AKU-AKU,The Secert of Easter Island" while in Hawaii and was inspired. Hmmm...I thought...this the second Easter Island Stone head pattern he had done. I read on. "When I picked up a piece of Milo driftwood", Milo driftwood, where am I going to find Milo driftwood around here? Then I noticed a little note stating that Milo wood is about the same color as walnut. Hey, now that I've got (thanks to my father-in-law family farm). This would be the first project in several weeks since having a wart removed from my thumb. Carved from (really really hard) black walnut over a couple days, I spent almost as much time sharping the knife as I did carving. A lot of sanding with this and a couple of coats of poly finish it off.